Shoyu Chicken

Here’s another Hawaiian island favorite that I remember eating a lot while growing up – Shoyu chicken. I think this meal is an island favorite because it’s quick, easy, and can be made in basically one pot. Oh, and it’s tasty too 🙂

This is such an island favorite that almost everyone in Hawaii has their own version of this recipe. Really, you can’t mess this recipe up so long as you have soy sauce, chicken stock (water), and some sugar…it’s that easy and pretty much foolproof. It’s one of those meals that you dump everything into a pot and it produces a fantastic flavorful meal.

To make this super simple meal, grab a large pot and dump all the ingredients for the cooking liquids into it. Heat this liquid on medium high till the sugar is dissolved and place the chicken pieces into the pot. The liquid should come almost to the top of the chicken. *I used a family pack of bone in frozen or partially frozen chicken thighs, which was 9 pieces and 4.5 lbs.*

Tip:

Boneless and skinless chicken may be used

Chicken broth can be substituted with water

If you do not have dark soy sauce, use all regular soy sauce and increase the brown sugar slightly to your taste

Rice wine and pepper flakes are optional

Turn the heat down to medium, cover the pot, and cook the chicken for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn each chicken piece over and cook for another 20 minutes. Turn chicken once more and cook for another 20 minutes – total cook time should be 50 minutes. *Keep chicken covered while cooking.*

Do you see the wonderful dark color of the chicken? That’s all that shoyu yumminess soaking into each chicken piece.

Okay. Now, this next part is totally optional and can be skipped if you don’t want a glaze, but why wouldn’t you want a glaze? Just sayin’ 🙂 So, using the liquid that the chicken was cooked in, measure out about a cup of it and place into a smaller pot. Make sure to skim off any chicken fat and just get the sauce. Heat the sauce on medium high heat. To thicken the sauce, mix 2 tsp. of cornstarch with a few spoonfuls of the heated sauce to make a slurry. Add this slurry into the pot and stir until the sauce thickens and coats the spoon.

Place chicken on a serving platter and dress with glaze. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds. Now, sit down, open wide, and enjoy the yumminess.

Tips:

glaze can be used on rice or cooked veggies (broccoli/cauliflower)

Do you have a quick and easy chicken recipe? Come and share it on the Merry Monday link party, every Sunday at 6pm PST.

1/4 cup Brown Sugar (If using all regular soy sauce, you may want to increase the brown sugar up to 1/2 cup)

1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon Grated fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder

1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder (Fresh garlic can also be used)

Chicken
(Optional)

2 tablespoons Rice wine

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Red pepper flakes (optional)

Glaze
(Optional)

2 teaspoons Cornstarch

1 cup Shoyu chicken sauce

Topping
(Optional)

2-3 stalks green onions (optional)

sesame seeds (optional)

Note

Use frozen or partially frozen chicken to help dilute the sauce as it cooks. If using fresh or defrosted chicken, add 1/2 cup additional water.

Directions

Chicken

Step 1

Put all the ingredients, including the chicken into a large pot. Heat the pot on medium high until it just starts to boil. Cover and lower the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. *The rice wine and pepper flakes are optional and do not need to be added.*

Step 2

Flip chicken over, cover, and cook for another 20 minutes. Flip chicken over again, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes.

Sauce

Step 3

Take one cup of the shoyu sauce out of the pot and put it into a small pot. Set heat to medium high. *Make sure to skim off any of the fat and just take the sauce.*

Step 4

In a small bowl, add 2 tsp. of cornstarch. Take a few spoonfuls of the hot shoyu sauce from the pot and mix it into the cornstarch to create a slurry.

Step 5

Add the cornstarch slurry to the hot shoyu sauce in the pot and stir until the sauce thickens and it lightly coats the spoon.

Step 6

Place chicken on a serving platter and spoon sauce onto chicken.

Topping

Step 7

Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds over the chicken for garnish (optional).

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Comments

Hello! Made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing!! I didn’t have dark soy sauce so I used 1/2c brown sugar. Next time I will use less because I like it to be more salty than sweet. I miss a lot of good foods from Hawaii and this really made me happy! Thanks for the recipe!!! 🙂

My husband is part Hawaiian and I think he would love this! I pinned it to the Retro Re-Pin Board and my personal board as well. Thanks for sharing this at the party.Julie V. (Somebody’s Dinner) recently posted…Yeast Dough Trick

This look delicious! We’ve been in such a rut eating the same thing every week, I’ve been trying some new recipes. I’ll add this to the top of my list. Thanks for sharing with Creative Spark Link Party. Hope you join us again tomorrow. Glenna @ My Paper CrazeGlenna @ My Paper Craze recently posted…Zipper Die Kid’s Interactive Birthday Card!

I love how simple this dish is! Place everything in one pan and cook it and you have a wonderful, great tasting dish for the whole family – will be trying this very soon for sure! 🙂 Thank you for sharing on the Weekend Social week34. It’s lovely meeting youMiss Food Fairy recently posted…Basil and pistachio pesto

This looks so yummy! I love chicken recipes that really add flavor. My hubby makes fun of me when I say, “This chicken tastes chickeny…” I love this as I am sure the flavor gets boiled into the chicken as it cooks. Yum! Thanks Erlene.Elizabeth recently posted…Homemade French Bread with Tomatoes, Basil, and Mozzarella

I’ve tried Hawaiian chicken before and loved it but this recipe is slightly different. Pinning and can’t wait to give it a try – I’m sure this one will be just as good (if not better!) than the one I tried before 🙂

I don’t know if I would consider this Hawaiian chicken. I think of Huli Huli chicken as Hawaiian chicken. This is more of an island favorite 🙂 and practically everyone on the island has a version. If you try it, let me know how you like it.

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